This letter is to inform area veterans and families that American Legion Post 86 in conjunction with the Stone Bridge Lions Club are preparing to upgrade/repair our Veterans Service Board.

Past Veterans Service Board committee members and contractors that worked on the board are invited to any meeting.

The meetings will take place on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of each month, 7:00 pm at the American Legion, 1234 Main St., Susquehanna.

If you are, or know of a veteran from the Susquehanna area that would like to have their name added to the Veterans Service Board please let us know.

An application to add your name will be in the Transcript soon, as well as the American Legion Post 86 in Susquehanna and other local merchants.

Sincerely,

Richard Brinton – Commander

Post 86 Executive Board

A new House Bill has been introduced by Congressman Chris Gibson (D-19 NY). The Bill HR-969 titled The Blue Water Navy, Vietnam Veterans Agent Orange Act was presented to the 114th Congress on February 13th, 2015 and is referred to the House Committee of Veterans Affairs. This new Bill replaces an older Bill that died in the VA Congressional committee of 2014. The new Bill is to clarify presumptions related to the exposure of certain veterans who served in the vicinity of the Republic of Vietnam and for other purposes. House Bill HR-969 if passed, will afford proper equitable VA benefits to Vietnam veterans exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange. Thousands of Vietnam veterans who did not have boots-on-ground will be eligible for VA benefits, medical and compensation.

The Bill is important to those veterans who served our Country and who are sick so they may have better quality of life. Once again we veterans need the help of the American people. Please call your members of Congress, also write to them at their Washington, DC office, urge Congress to pass HR-969. Let not the Vietnam War Veteran be forgotten.

Sincerely,

John Bury, US Navy, Retired

Media, PA

Despite warnings that we and others issued, many dairy farmers are now facing reality when they received official word that the pay price for the milk they delivered to milk handlers in the Northeast Federal Order was $17.57 per cwt. for January 2015.  One must remember that all dairy farmers are suffering these devastating prices and unfortunately there is more to come.

A reporter for the Farmshine newspaper reported that members of IDFA (the milk handlers group) and the National Milk Producers Association may be meeting to discuss new methods to price milk.  This would be scary, as it has been these same people that appear to be the ones that promoted the pricing formula that is playing havoc with many dairy farmers today.

I believe it’s time that many farm organizations sit down and discuss a new pricing formula for dairy farmers.  It’s time we set aside some of the differences that we might have and concentrate on a new pricing formula for all dairy farmers.  These same organizations should be evaluating other steps that can restore sanity to the method used to price dairy farmers’ milk at the farm.

Remember the price paid to dairy farmers for September 2014 was $26.16 per cwt. (Federal Order #1).  This means the $17.57 price for January’s milk was $8.59 per cwt. less than the September price.  This amounts to approximately 80 cents a gallon.  Will consumers pay less in the stores?

When will butter prices come down in the stores?  The Class IV price (butter, powdered milk) in all the Federal Orders is now down to $13.23 per cwt.  Why is butter still selling for over $5 a pound in some stores? (Especially some of the so-called classy packaged butter.)

There are many things that need to be corrected!

However, on the plus side our friend Nina Teicholz, author of the 2014 best-selling book, “The Big Fat Surprise, Why Butter, Meat and Cheese belong in a healthy diet”, is gaining momentum.  According to the Yahoo news outlet, a new draft of a report from the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee contains a big shift in warnings that were first issued four decades ago suggesting that “cholesterol no longer needs to be viewed as a nutrient of concern.”  Will this report allow a major change in our school lunch programs as we have been strongly advocating?

The Yahoo news agency interviewed Nina in her kitchen days before the announcement was made.  Every dairy farmer and farm organization should be jumping on Nina’s bandwagon.

More and more consumers are telling me they now consider many of the margarines to possibly contain plastic and so they use only butter.

Let’s get whole milk back into our schools.  Remember the 5 year old boy in Carbondale, Pennsylvania who says, “Mom, when you go to the store, make sure you buy the red cap (whole milk) milk cause it’s the best!”

Sincerely,

Arden Tewskbury

Meshoppen, PA

It's time to bid adieu to those who prefer to live in the Dark Ages: the flat-earthers, the religious zealots, and all the other anti-vaccination quacks and get protected from the measles epidemic with a safe and effective vaccination.

To which the a-forenamed groups reply, let's see who walks like a duck and talks like a duck.

We'll examine five points.

To begin, is there a measles epidemic?

An epidemic is defined as a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease. Last year there was a record number of 644 case of measles. In a nation with a population of 320 million that equates to 1 case for every 500,000 people. Putting it another way, that would be 25 cases of measles in the entire state of Pennsylvania. So, then, are we having a measles epidemic, or is this another epidemic of hysteria as was Ebola and a number of flu frights?

Are vaccinations safe?

The vaccine makers don't think so. Starting in 1983, when all 50 states mandated vaccination, adverse effects started to snowball. Big Pharma, panicking over the increasing number of liability claims, laid down the law to Congress: either you shield us from all liability or vaccination will be financially untenable. So, Congress passed the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, which Big Pharma was good enough to help write.

It gave the pharmaceutical manufacturers exactly what they wanted, complete immunity from vaccine-related law suits. Claimants must state their case before a government panel, named the Office of the Special Masters. But stand before this Star Chamber and you are – there's only one word for it – screwed.

From 1989 to 2014 there were 13,300 claims filed under the Childhood Vaccine Act. The Special Masters reviewed these cases. Seventy-five percent were dismissed out of hand. The remaining families were compensated for permanent cognitive impairment, paralysis, or death of their child. The average compensatory sum was $870. For deaths, it is a standard $250,000.

As an aside, last year claims were filed for the deaths of 19 children whose deaths were attributed to the measles vaccine plus 1,124 more deaths caused by other vaccinations.

Nevertheless, vaccine manufacturers continue to tell the public their product is safe. And why not? Since they cannot be sued, they can say anything.

Is the measles vaccine effective?

The package insert for measles vaccine reads, “894,134 cases [of measles were] reported in 1941 compared to 288 cases reported in 1995 resulted in a 99.97 % decrease in reported cases.” Before you start cheering, let's look into this miracle cure.

The year 1950 saw a high-point in measles with almost 800,000 cases. Ten years later that dropped to 200,000 cases. What caused the precipitous drop of 75 percent? It couldn't have been the measles vaccine. That wasn't invented until 1963. The decline continued its sharp fall, until today it's no more than a few hundred per year.

And remember that package insert claiming 99.97 percent effectiveness? Vaccination had nothing to do with the reduction of the illness. The decline started a decade before the measles vaccine was marketed. The vaccine merely piggybacked on something that was in progress.

What is herd immunity and how important is it?

The theory of herd immunity contends that if a significant proportion of the population (herd) is vaccinated against a particular illness, then even the unvaccinated are afforded protection. Which is to say, if 90 percent are vaccinated, 100 percent are protected.

Herd immunity is used to justify mass inoculation as it presumes to provide protection for those who are not vaccinated. But does it even exist?

In 2013, the CDC proudly proclaimed that “less than 1% [of children] are unvaccinated.” According to the herd immunity hypothesis, this protected the unvaccinated as well. But the following year there was a record number of 644 cases of measles.

This raises the question of whether herd immunity is a valid hypothesis used to justify mass vaccination?

Lastly, is mandatory vaccination a good idea?

Big Pharma thinks so. It's their open-sesame ticket to riches; forced vaccination of millions with no religious or philosophical exemptions.

The AMA's Code of Ethics opposes this, favoring informed consent over forced compliance: “The patient's right of self-decision can be exercised only if the patient possesses enough information to enable an informed choice.”

On one side, there's a hallelujah chorus singing the praises of vaccination, while on the other side there's barely a whisper for informed choice.

But now you, at least, have heard both sides. So decide, which side walks like a duck and talks like a duck?

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA